Sweet Vanilla Dreams
by CelestiasFaithful
Summary: A one-shot about Lena waking up to find her uncle raiding the refrigerator and eating vanilla frosting. When everything is explained and things get personal, Lena must realize that sometimes even the strongest adults need somebody there for them. (Disclaimer: I do not own The Caster Chronicles, any songs,scenes, or characters used in this.)


**I had the idea for this fanfic while shamelessly eating vanilla frosting out of a can in the darkness of my kitchen Thursday night. How I created a loving-yet-humorous fanfic about this- I'll never know. I regret nothing.**  
**The lullaby is dedicated to Jaclynn (I probably spelled it wrong) in my choir class. She did the extended old-school version (I don't think it's on YouTube) as a solo for the county Solo & Ensemble competition her, a few classmates, and I were in.**

**Please R&R, it's nice to have some motivation to write some stuff on the side while I'm writing my thesis for a few weeks.**  
**Enjoy!**

* * *

_Lena stood next to a boy, her hand gripped tightly on the gates leading to Ravenwood, as if she was trying to drag the ancient iron objects, but the boy looked at her. She had never met this boy before. He had dark hair and kind eyes, the kind that didn't look at her fearfully as his mouth would accuse her of being a freak of nature. He seemed...normal. _  
_"__Lena, listen to me." he said, as if he knew her. "It's okay to be different. You're not normal, but it's a good thing."_  
_Within a second, he had somehow reached her and was holding her, the heat of his body seeping into her, her sight slowly fading..._

Lena opened her eyes to her room, and sighed. Always those dreams about that boy she never knew. She found out a few years ago it was Ethan Wate, the love of her life. They would do so many things together, and fall in love. In the dreams she was still an unclaimed caster, who still had her last few months of freedom before all hell broke loose.  
She had now brought herself up, her chin against her knees. Her eyes darted around, suddenly alert.  
There was the sound of an opening door, and footsteps before it.  
Lena panicked for a moment, knowing her Uncle Macon wouldn't be up at this hour. He'd recently transformed from an Incubus to a light Caster, and now he had to sleep,eat, and all the stuff most mortals and Casters did that Incubuses did not.  
Lena quickly thought of a logical explanation, and settled on the idea that Boo had gone out -or had just come in from- a late night adventure.

She laid back, her head slowly hitting her pillow, her arms bringing the covers up to her neck.  
As easily as she had awoken, she fell back to sleep.

_Lena was thrown back into another dream as soon as her eyes closed and her mind went blank. But this time, it was much more dark._  
_She watched scenes of Ethan being killed the night of her claiming, the dead look in his eyes made her sleeping body toss and turn, and she was starting to cry even though she was not aware of it. She also saw her uncle die, which -like everything else in the dream- was in agonizing slow-motion._  
_She watched as both of the dead bodies of her loved ones hit the ground almost simultaneously, but both as if two screens depicting their death were right next to each other- Ethan's on the left, Macon's on the right._

Yet again, Lena bolted upright in her bed, looking straight at the clock. 1:45.  
_Come on, Lena. You are only asleep for a few minutes...It was only a dream..._  
She thought to herself, her attention moving on to something new.  
More noises from downstairs.  
Her sudden lack of undisturbed sleep caused her patience to snap.  
_I'm going to snap the neck of whatever his down there._ She thought, shoving herself angrily out of bed and hastily opened the door.

Meanwhile, the intruder was having a ball in the dim glow of the refrigerator. Yes, the house did have Kitchen, but Kitchen could conjure up anything- and a refrigerator full of various mortal foods was a possibility. It licked its lips, greedily grabbing a plate with a single piece of cheesecake on it, a fork immediately stabbing itself into it.  
Within about a minute, the plate and fork were discarded onto the nearby table, along with empty containers,cans, and plates.  
The unknown intruder ate like it had been starved for days, but yet- it had eaten less than twelve hours ago.  
And it was so interested in eating the majority of the food, it did not notice the footsteps from the stairs coming closer and closer.

Lena tried to be as silent as possible, making quick and calculated movements to avoid the intruder until she confronted it. She saw the dim orange glow of a light in the dining room. She pressed her back against the wall, blindly leading herself towards it, trying to stay silent.  
She quickly reached the end of the wall, the last thing between her and the unknown.  
She gulped, trying to gain back the courage she had just lost, realizing all the possibilities of what it might be.  
She burst out the shadows, seeing a silhouette in the light of the refrigerator, the details of the face becoming clear as it moved backwards in surprise.  
"Uncle M? What are you doing up?" she said loudly, quite surprised.  
"Well-" said her uncle, who was holding a can on Betty Crocker french vanilla frosting, already three-fourths through the can, his right index finger still lodged in his mouth. He removed it, carrying on. "I should be asking_ you_ the same thing."  
Lena's eyes traveled to her indulging uncle to the table filled with empty plates, used utensils, crushed cans, and vacant containers.  
"H-how did you _eat_ all of this?!" she said, shocked. "Do you know how _sick_ you could get?"  
He sighed, shaking his head in shame. "Yes."  
"Like I said before- _why are you up_?"  
Macon's head went down, examining the floor instead of his niece's eyes."Why do you think I'm up?"  
"Well, you had a _super-craving for mortal food_?"  
"No."  
"You found someone eating our food, chased them off, and then went at it with _Betty Crocker_?" She gestured to the frosting can he held in his hand.  
He smirked sadly "Try again."  
"Uncle M- I'm tired. I don't have time for guessing games at what- _two in the morning_?!"

He sighed. "Alright,alright." he held his hands up in surrender. "I'll tell you. I'm embarassed to get caught -let alone tell you why i'm down here-" he said, glancing to the mess he'd made. "I-I haven't been sleeping."  
She crossed her arms "I can see that."  
He shook his head "I haven't slept in four days."  
"Oh." She said quietly, her eyes growing wide.  
"I've found the only thing that keeps me from _twitching like I'm insane_ is food. It's become a necessity since I'm not sleeping. So, as you can see, I've been pushed to my limit." He said, his arm out as if to display the mess on the table.

Lena looked at him, one eyebrow raised.  
"Haven't you tried coffee?"  
"Yes, I have. It only caused me to be more jittery. I felt like my mind was going to fast for my body."  
"A glass of warm milk?"  
"Your grandmother used to suggest that before-" he didn't finish his sentence.  
_Before his transformation._  
"-it did not work this time."

Lena suddenly became relaxed. She sighed "Is there any exact reason why you haven't been sleepy?"  
"Yes." Macon said hurriedly, his eyes darting from side to side.  
"Well-" She moved her hand in a circle, ushering him to go on.  
"I-I" he gulped "I've been having..._nightmares_." She could see her beloved uncle's cheeks turn kindly put a hand on his back."Uncle M, we _all_ have bad dreams-"  
"Incubuses don't." He said, sounding like a stubborn child.  
"Well, you're not an Incubus anymore." She patted his back, glancing to a new spread Kitchen had put out by her unvocalized request.

On the table lied a tall glass of milk, and a bagel with peanut butter spread on it.  
"Eat." she ordered. "It'll help an upset stomach and help you sleep."  
A few minutes of Macon awkwardly eating as his niece watched him as if he was a high-security prisoner.  
Macon's eyes fluttered, and Lena realized his body had finally let go of all his stress and fear, replacing it with a sort of a natural shutdown. He yawned, glancing at her. "Thank you, Lena." he said as she smiled back, as she got up from her chair, grabbing him by the arm.  
"Come on, it's late." she said, leading the half-asleep Macon to his bedroom. He laid down, curling up in the covers, still not fully asleep, and it appeared he was awakening even more since he had laid down. Lena quickly sat on the bed, stroking his back.

He had always been there for her, and now it was her turn to be there for him.

She began to sing one of the only lullabies she knew.

"_Hush-a-by, Don't you cry,_  
_Go to sleep, little baby._  
_And when you wake, You shall have cake,_  
_And all the pretty little horses._  
_Paint and bay, Sorrel and gray,_  
_All the pretty little horses._  
_So hush-a-by, Don't you cry,_  
_Go to sleep, little baby._

_Hush-by, Don't you cry_  
_Go to sleep a little baby_  
_When you wake you shall have_  
_All the pretty little horses_  
_Blacks and bays, dapples and grays_  
_Coach and six a little horses_  
_When you wake you shall have_  
_All the pretty little horses_  
_Hush-by, Don't you cry_  
_Go to sleep a little baby_  
_When you wake you shall have_  
_All the pretty little horses..._"

Lena sa her Uncle's side move rhythmically up and down as he slept soundly. She smiled to herself, suddenly realizing how tired she was, and slowly got up and left the room, the last verse of the song quietly echoing in the silent house as the door to his room shut.

"_Hush-by, Don't you cry_  
_Go to sleep a little baby_  
_When you wake you shall have_  
_All the pretty little horses..._"


End file.
